Marching cleft sign (meniscus)

The marching cleft sign is a finding on sagittal MR images, which is useful in characterizing the configuration of meniscal tears. It is present when a meniscal tear is oriented obliquely in relation to both coronal and sagittal plane, which results in the tear cleft moving towards or away from the free meniscal edge on consecutive sagittal images. It can be seen:

• radial tears located at the junction of the body and horn (most often posterior horn)
• parrot beak tear (oblique radial tear)